VISTA (CNS) - A Hells Angels member accused of running down and seriously injuring a pedestrian following a confrontation outside an Oceanside bar must stand trial on felony charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Prior to Tuesday's preliminary hearing, prosecutors filed an amended complaint, deleting an attempted murder count against 31-year-old Anthony James Medvec.
He faces 19 years in prison if convicted of assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury and leaving the scene of a serious injury collision, said Deputy District Attorney Christine Bannon.
The defendant was taken into custody about eight hours after the Nov. 25 hit-and-run crash on South Coast Highway at Cassidy Street.
The chain of events that led to Medvec's arrest began around 4 p.m., when he and two other patrons of PCH Sports Bar and Grill at 1835 S. Coast Highway began making inappropriate comments to the daughter-in-law of the victim when she walked past the establishment with her husband and the victim, Oceanside police Lt. Leonard Cosby said.
The harassment escalated and Medvec allegedly yelled that he was going to hit the trio. The group continued to walk away, but as they were crossing at Cassidy Street, Medvec sped through the intersection in a white Lexus and struck 60-year-old Michael Dean, who was walking with a cane in the crosswalk, Cosby alleged.
The driver fled, but witnesses followed, the lieutenant said.
Dean was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido to be treated for a collapsed lung and several broken bones.
Police later determined that Medvec, a documented Hells Angels motorcycle gang member and federal probationer who was required to wear a GPS tracking device, had been driving the Lexus, according to Cosby. The device led officers to his home in the 4900 block of Yuma Avenue, where he was arrested without incident.
Vista Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman ruled that enough evidence was presented at Medvac's preliminary hearing for him to proceed to trial. A Superior Court arraignment was set for March 25.